Salonica

History and Music of "Balkan Jerusalem"

Salonica [Greek: Thessaloniki] was one of the major urban centres in the Ottoman Balkans. For a long period being under Ottoman rule (1430-1912), the city served as a major port and commercial hub for much of its history. Its wealth attracted different ethnic and religious groups that settled in this major port city. Among them, we could find the Sephardi Jews, Turkish-speaking Muslims, Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians as well as Levantines. Yet, Ottoman Salonica is much more than a place in history. Today, it evokes different, sometimes contradictory, experiences, perceptions and memories often kept in the different languages that were spoken in this major port city.

The aim of the lecture By Prof. Eyal Ginio (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) is to deconstruct the different images of Ottoman Salonica and to discuss them comparatively. It equally explores and analyse the different faces and features of Salonica as a place in history as well as a topic of imagination and nostalgia.

Yiannis Kofopuolos (Saloniki) and musicians of Lakocha, Mazal Bueno Orquesta and Trleche will present a musical portrait of the city in the Ottoman period.